New U.S. House redistricting plan on Wednesday

A new set of boundaries for Washington’s expanded congressional delegation is set for unveiling at Wednesday’s session of the bipartisan state redistricting commission.

The state gained a 10th seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2010 census. A pair of the state’s best political poker players — ex-U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton for the Republicans, ex-Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis for the Democrats — have been drawing the lines.

Darcy Burner

The map will answer several much-discussed questions:

–Location of the new 10th District: Will it be Olympia-centric and oriented to South Puget Sound, enhancing hopes of the Democrats’ 2010 3rd District nominee Denny Heck, or will it be a suburban-exurban district east of Lake Washington.

–Crossing the Cascades: Will a Western Washington congressional district puncture the “Cascade Curtain” to take in portions of Central Washington? One possible bet is the 8th District of GOP Rep. Dave Reichert gets part of Kittitas County.

–Swing districts: The 2000 redistricting commission created four (out of nine) districts as “even playing fields” between the Democratic and Republican parties. A pair of Democratic lawmakers — Reps. Jay Inslee (1st) and Adam Smith (9th) — have dominated by personal popularity. How many of the 10 new districts will be in play.

Reichert

–Safe harbors: Reichert has gone through four touch election races, and is rumored in line for a “safe” seat. Newly elected 3rd District GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler has shunned town meetings with constituents after initial weak performances.

Gorton was an original, enthusiastic backer of Herrera Beutler and is a longtime champion of GOP women running for office. Will Democratic-leaning precincts in the Olympia area be pulled out of her district?

–Having to move: A bevy of Democrats have announced for the 1st District seat, being vacated as Inslee runs for governor. One, Darcy Burner, has run twice against Reichert in the 8th District. State Rep. Roger Goodman lives near the current 1st/8th boundary. State Sen. Steve Hobbs hails from eastern Snohomish County. The boundaries of the new 1st District may force candidates to move into it.

Goodman

Slade Gorton has been at this game for 40 years. As a state representative, he went eyeball-to-eyeball against the late state Senate Majority Leader R.R. “Bob” Greive after the 1970 census.

Ceis has gained a nickname “The Shark” as both policy expert and political brains at both the King County Courthouse, and later Seattle City Hall under Mayor Greg Nickels.